Lennard Supernault went down a dark road for twenty years of his life, but now he is living in light —and aims to bring others forward with him.
“I have a Sécwepemc heart, I was raised on this territory,” he began, as he recounted his struggles throughout his life with his identity, and his attempts to hide his lack of self-confidence.
As a young child, his first memories are of sexual abuse he experienced at the hands of a family member, which left him angry and lost.
After having a daughter, he began to look at the world in a different way, but he still did not know how to be in a relationship, and he began drinking at 19 years old and said he didn’t stop until he was 39.
Twenty years of his life was spent numbing himself to the feelings he did not know how to deal with.
But when his brother Gerald Supernault went missing, things began to shift for him.
When his family called him asking if he had heard from Gerald, he understood the strange feeling of unease he had been experiencing.
“I knew right away that he was gone,” he said.
He went into a depression as the family searched from August into October for Gerald.
The body of his brother was found in early October and his family buried his brother on Thanksgiving weekend.
After this he became numb and was asking himself whether he even wanted to live anymore but when his children’s faces flashed through his mind, he knew he needed to change.
He called Three Corners Health Services.
“It was so amazing how fast they got the ball rolling,” he said.
He went to treatment and began the slow process of healing. But after being sober for a year, another challenge prompted him to start drinking again.
Then he decided he wanted to make his brother proud and he once again tried to change his life.
He has been sober since Sept. 7, 2014, and he has become a grandfather, something he cherishes deeply because he did not have grandparents growing up.
Since becoming sober, Lennard said he has learned not to let his emotions control him and is learning to forgive people who hurt him.
“I can’t become the best possible version of myself if I don’t love everybody. The best way to walk through this world is with kindness and love.”
He aims to “reach back and help others come forward” to show them life is beautiful.
“I truly believe that my life is beautiful today and I’m living my best life,” he said.
While he said “it isn’t rainbows and unicorns” every day and he still struggles and has hard days, he also can see this is temporary and he knows he can handle them.
One of the ongoing challenges is knowing he lives in a community where whoever was responsible for his brother’s death is still free.
“I don’t think it’s fair that those people get to walk around and intimidate people,” he said, noting for many years he was afraid himself, and carried a knife for protection.
But now, he said he has learned through therapy he can have closure, and he said his family has to be ready to face whoever is responsible before it can come out.
“One day we’re going to have our day in court.”
His own healing has allowed him to deal with his brother’s loss.
He wants those still struggling with addiction to know “life can be different, life can change.”
In 2022, after being hospitalized for two months due to Covid, being intubated and then being on oxygen, he said he recognizes how fleeting life is.
This experience inspired him to pursue a life of meaning and put his skills to work to do what he loved.
In 2023 he started his own business using his martial arts training in both judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu and his cultural knowledge of dancing, drumming and singing and his creative writing skills. He has been providing workshops in schools as well as competing in pow wows. Unfortunately, he injured his Achilles tendon dancing at a pow wow at Bonaparte First Nation.
He is viewing this set back as a test from the Creator of whether he is truly the man he says he is.
Now, he is the father of three children: Shania White Bear Supernault, Winddance Supernault, and Moonlight Supernault, and the grandfather of Xavier Wolf.
For them and for the world, he carries the message with him: “Ta7us Ke7 iiena” — Never give up.
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